EU Enlargement: Are the New Countries Ready to Join the EMU? 

This paper investigates empirically the extend to which the ten new countries of the current EU enlargement are ready to join the European Monetary Union (EMU). We assess the prospects of successful accession into the EMU using cointegration and common trends analysis on the nominal convergence criteria specified by the Maastricht Treaty as well as on real per capita GDPs. The empirical results indicate that the enlargement countries are partially ready to join the Eurozone, and need further adjustments in their government policies to be fully prepared for joining the EMU.